[Arneldo]

Popular prison drama Bad Girls has been axed after eight series.

The long-anticipated decision not to recomission the programme finally came today and resulted in a 13% drop in the shares of programme makers, Shed Productions.

Shed chief executive Eileen Gallagher said: "Naturally we're disappointed that Bad Girls has not been recommissioned, especially as the last series performed well during a tough summer for ITV."

This is the second blow ITV have dealt Shed, having axed Footballers' Wives in May after only five series.

An ITV spokeswoman told DS: "Bad Girls has been a terrific show for us over the years performing consistently in the peak time schedule, but we need to make way for new series ideas in order to keep ITV1 refreshed and relevant for the modern audience."

Bad Girls first broadcast in 1999 and ran for 111 episodes. A Christmas special filmed earlier this year will still be shown in December.

Source : Digita Spy